On Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Brian M. Ames filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of Ohio seeking a writ of prohibition against Judge David M. Ondrey of Geauga County Common Pleas Court.

Ames, a resident of Portage County, Ohio, had originally filed a lawsuit against the Geauga County Board of Developmental Disabilities in February 2024 seeking to enforce provisions of Ohio’s Open Meetings Act. That law, also known as the Sunshine Law, requires that meetings of public bodies be open to the public. Ames has brought numerous lawsuits in the past seeking to ensure compliance with the Sunshine Law.

In his original lawsuit, Ames alleged the Geauga County board had violated the open meetings’ requirement. The board filed a motion to dismiss in May 2024, which Judge Ondrey granted in part in June 2024. Ondrey dismissed the case but did not at that time determine if the filing of the case was frivolous conduct under Ohio law.

Shortly after, on June 9th, the board filed a motion asking Ondrey to declare Ames’ conduct frivolous and award attorney fees and costs. Ames appealed the dismissal to the Eleventh District Court of Appeals. While that appeal was pending, on July 16th, Judge Ondrey scheduled a hearing for September 24th to determine if the original case filing was frivolous.

In his complaint filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, Ames argued Judge Ondrey lacked jurisdiction to conduct the scheduled hearing. Ames claimed Ohio law is clear that any determination of frivolous conduct regarding an open meetings case must be made at the same time a judge decides not to issue an injunction. Since Ondrey dismissed the case in June without such a finding, Ames asserted the judge could no longer make that determination.

Ames is asking the high court to issue a writ prohibiting Judge Ondrey from holding the September 24th hearing. He maintains Judge Ondrey is attempting to exercise judicial power he does not possess. The legal question now before the Supreme Court is whether Judge Ondrey has exceeded his jurisdiction according to Ohio statutes governing open meetings lawsuits and frivolous claims.

Judge Ondrey‘s courtroom is located at 100 Short Court Street, Suite 2-A, Chardon OH 44024, and can be reached at (440) 279-2015.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.